THERE ARE NUMEROUS COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS WHICH DEMAND HIGHLY FLEXIBLE, DUCTILE MATERIALS WHICH STILL POSSESS ADEQUATE STRENGTH AND CREEP RESISTANCE.

THERE ARE NUMEROUS COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS WHICH DEMAND HIGHLY FLEXIBLE, DUCTILE MATERIALS WHICH STILL POSSESS ADEQUATE STRENGTH AND CREEP RESISTANCE. WE SUGGEST THAT THIS COMBINATION OF PROPERTIES MAY BE ACHIEVED BY EMBEDDING SHORT, STORNG FIBERS INTO A HIGHLY FLEXIBLE MATRIX MATERIAL.BY ALTERING THE FIBER-MAXTIX INTERFACE, AS WELL AS THE FIBERAND MATRIX MATERIALS, FIBER ASPECT RATIO AND VOLUME FRACTION, VARIOUS TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN FLEXIBILITY AND STRENGTH MAY BE ACHIEVED. WE PROPOSE TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF ACHIEVING A DESIRABLE PROPERTY BALANCE THEORETICALLY ON THE BASIS OF MICRO-MECHANICAL MODELS OF SHORT-FIBER COMPOSITES. WITH SOLUTIONS TO THESE MODELS, PARAMETRIC STUDIES OF THE EFFECTSOF THE RELEVANT MICROSCOPIC VARIABLES ON COMPOSITE PROPERTIES WILL BE CARRIED OUT, AND CONCLUSIONS REGARDING THE FEASIBILITY WILL BE DRAWN.